It was recognized by the present inventor that there is a need for an improved spring clip, particularly a garment buckle clip of the type used to support straps on overalls, jeans, trousers or suspenders.
One type of known clips are single piece retention clips. The one piece clips were forms made into a one piece loop of a welded wire or from stamped metal which had relatively little flexibility. These clips are urged over a button shank and retained a garment in place by gravity since there was no spring tension to hold a clip onto the shank of a button; however, these one piece clips were prone to separating from the garment. Furthermore, pieces which are welded together are subject to breakage due to fatigue after repeated use and after frequent laundering.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,561 to Kipperman shows an improved spring clip garment loop for engaging and disengaging a button. In a preferred embodiment, the loop is manufactured from a single piece of wire which provides for resilient movement of a button receiving portion by means of an interlocked sliding horizontal strap bar. The exposed interlocking ends of the sliding horizontal bar can snag and abrade the garment and can grasp and collect pieces of dirt and lint from the surrounding garment area which will become entrapped in the interlocking ends and thereby interfere with the operation of the spring clip.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 396,827 to Luk shows an ornamental design for a buckle having a loop and a pair of round portions of the loop exposed through apertures formed in a cylindrical housing.
Another known method of making a spring clip is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,269 to Hirsch which discloses a resilient spring clip shoulder strap loop with a U-shaped resilient wire loop that has a saddle-shaped exposed encasement attached to a non-circular button receiving and button securing portion. The encasement has a closed pocket and an open notch for the button shank. One disadvantage of the spring clip is that the rigid assembly of the saddle shaped encasement to the non-circular button portion of the loop may be cumbersome and highly susceptible to weak assembly due to poor mating of parts which could result in the unintentional formation of burrs or sharp edges on the encasement. Furthermore, the exposed encasement could become distorted during laundering or from repeated use which could severely impair operation. The encasement may be therefore subjected to premature and unwanted loss particularly when a child plays with it and pries it loose or sucks or bites on it thereby risking the possibility of swallowing it or risking the possibility of being cut by the external burrs or sharp edges. Still another problem of the spring clip is that the open notched section, due to its upward facing, gravity favorable, orientation, serves as a conduit through which dirt and lint could enter and collect in the pocket of the encasement which will eventually jam and interfere with operation.
Accordingly, it becomes clear that there is a great need for a buckle clip for receiving and for engaging a fastener such as a button having a shank to define a fastening and strap supporting device which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art clips. Such a buckle clip should be one that is easy to use, positively engages and disengages a button and is economically manufactured.